Friday, February 26, 2016

Wouldn't that be awesome? Butas much as I'd like to sit around a table with you all, we don't need to go to Kimball, South Dakota to satisfy our munchies. We've got an all-you-can-eat buffet of finger-lickin' ditties right here– home-cooked and hot off the griddle.

THANK YOU to everyone who contributed a poem this month and/or supported each other with comments and encouragement. Most especially, thanks to David Harrison who not only lit the burners, but also brought his own little ditty to the potluck.

We've got more ditties here than you can shake a fork at!Tuck in your napkin and let's dig in...

And should a ditty
change a mind
and help someone
do something kind
you’d have to have
a second thought
for though a ditty
is quite short
it works just like
a butterfly
and might move mountains
by and by.
Simple words in
simple rhyme
can ripple to
the end of time.

THAT'S NOT ALL, KATE.by Katie Gast

And even if
a ditty fails
to move the world,
that’s just details.

For any ditty
worth its salt
will act just like
a somersault

will turn us over
on our head
will turn us back,
upright, cheeks red.

An exercise
of mish-mash thoughts
that might turn out
to be ersatz.

ANOTHER POEM ABOUT A DITTYby Jane Yolen

It’s an ear worm,
A stitch
It’s a son
of an itch
It won’t leave you alone
For a minute.

You hear it
And then
It repeats
Once again,
It’s a dittyable
Pitiable
Sin—it

Makes you feel
Foolish
And yet somewhat
Coolish
Restating it
Gives you a
Rise.

So you keep
On repeating
Your heart
Faster beating,
Each word in it
Now
A surprise.

It’s surely an itch
You continue
to scratch
Till the blood
That you draw
Drowns the room.

And I tell you
That ditty,
Small, wicked
(not pretty)
will surely
lead you
to your doom.MY LITTLE DITTYby Martha O'Quinn

There's an itty, bitty ditty
that dwells inside my head,
it hangs with me the livelong day
then follows me to bed.

Come morning's light I do believe
it has returned from whence it came.
Then, oh no! There's another itty bitty ditty
just a different tune and different name.

It might be a song
of rhyming words sweet,
or relaxing music
while rocking to sleep.
A to-and-fro sound
like love back and forth
takes time to go round
as a ditty.

Or it could be a rhyme
in the bright morning sun
for a dance in the kitchen
when breakfast is done.
We can sing it through chores
while we sweep and sway,
then we’ll skip outside
humming into the day
with a ditty.

Whatever you choose,
with your voice or a tap
the ordinary notes
fit a warm, cozy lap.
For a child getting sleepy
with words spoken low,
there’s no better thing
than a song that we know.
It’s a ditty!

GRANDMA'S DITTIESby Linda Mitchell

In the history of ditties
there’s none so silly
as those Grandma knows
from when she was young.
Like…..

Tap tap-tap tap tap, tap TAP!
Shave and-a haircut, two bits

Or,
When running a bath
She makes me laugh
with a cheerful sea-side tune.

By the sea, by the sea
by the beautiful sea,
you and me, you and me
oh how happy we’ll be.

And what about
my first day of school tummy?
Full of butterfly nerves tummy?
Her wisdom in song
helps me along.

Make new friends
but keep the old
one is silver
but the other gold.

And sometimes
at bedtime
Gran is outrageous
as I pull on my PJ’s
and brush my teeth
she’ll call out a ditty
that no joke can beat.

Fatty and Skinny had a race
Up and down the pillow case
Fatty shouted it’s not fair
Skinny lost his underwear!

I giggle and wriggle
into bed for the night,
pull up the covers and
turn out the light.
Grandma sings a ditty
before I sleep:

I love you
a bushel and a peck
a bushel and a peck
and a kiss around
the neck.

If I’m ever a Gran,
it’s my plan
to be a little silly
with those I love.
Tapping, singing, rhyming too
If there’s ever time
for a little ditty or two.

Step 2: the finer points of ditty composition...

HOW TO WRITE A DITTYby Buffy Silverman

A ditty should be witty
And a ditty should be short.
If a ditty isn’t witty
then a reader will not snort.

When a Valentine’s a ditty
bake it sweet as chocolate torte.
(Leave the grime and gritty for a senate subcommittee–
it’s a pity when a ditty is an odious retort.)

But if your ditty starts to wander through a thicket, through a city
and you’ve lost your sticky wicket and you get a speeding ticket–

STOP! You must abort!

MY DITTYby Rosi Hollinbeck

I tried to write a ditty
but it wasn’t very pretty.
When I read it to my kitty,
he howled and slashed the couch.

I tried to make in stronger
but it just seemed to get longer.
Tried to make it like a song or
something sweet, but I’m a slouch.

I try to make the words rhyme
and make the meter keep time
but it turns out when I don’t I’m
lashing out, a nasty grouch.

Fiddle dee and fiddle dum.
My meter’s like a broken drum.
Maybe I best just keep mum.
My poetic muse will vouch.

DITTY LOVEby Janie Lazo

Inside my head- a poem- a song.
Sometimes they're short; sometimes quite long.
These ditties come and must be shared.
A ditty here- a ditty there.
They do the things that ditties do-
They make us laugh; they make us blue.
I jot them on the go a lot,
Pull off the road - write down that thought.
I fear I've caught a ditty bug.
The tell-tale sign? Pure ditty love!

THE SILENT DITTYby Leane Gill

Keats wrote of a "silent ditty."
A ditty with "no tone."
Is the unsung melody more splendid?
The unspoken word exceedingly exquisite?
Beauty just outside our grasp, impossible to capture.
Escapes our voice
And becomes our silent ditty.

Jenny dump’d me when we met,
Bolting from the store she walked in;
Time, that burglar, stole my pet
Seconds after I had clocked in.
Say I’m happy nonetheless.
Say that life has not speed-bump’d me.
Say whatever. I confess,
Jenny dump’d me.

– J. Patrick Lewis

A LIFE AT SEAby David L. Harrison

Hear them now,
carrying on like monkeys,
climbing those ropes,
singing their ditties, off key
as gulls squabbling over handouts.
Ah, the life at sea.

Me, I’m sung out,
my bones ache,
can’t walk straight.
Traded ditties long ago
for a ditty bag.
No home behind,
no wife waiting.
Gave up all that
for a life at sea.

All I own is on my back,
or in this bag –
leather punch, needles,
twine, tape –
the rich rewards
of a life at sea.

Wind’s up,
old hull is creaking
like it knows what I know –
all that’s left
is one more day,
and one more day,
and one more day
of a life at sea.

A DITTYby Donna JT Smith

A ditty for my love
Who’s gone so far away
I’ll sing a pretty ditty,
Doleful ditty for each day.

He’s packed his bitty ditty bag,
And headed off to sea
'Tis such a gritty pity
For so long away he’ll be.

He’ll be singing his own ditty
As he rides the fearsome blue;
But hope that we will marry when
He says, “I’m back for you!”

He’ll open up the ditty bag
To show the wedding ring
He’ll put it on my finger and
A new tune I will sing

Our ditties soon will have to change
To kitties and to spoon
To Jack Be Nimbles and the cow
That jumped over the moon

For soon the sailor ditties
And my pity ditties sung
Will change to baby ditties,
And bitty didies will be hung!

PENELOPE'S DITTYby Catherine Flynn

A parrot named Penelope
grew restless, bored, and fluttery.

She longed to soar over the ocean blue,
not sit in a cage like a stuffed statue.

Spreading her silky feathers wide,
she caught the breeze and began to glide.

Above an island, volcanic and steamy,
she met her mate, oh so dreamy!

Now nestled on her balcony
in the lush rainforest canopy,

she primps, she preens and looks so pretty,
visits with friends, is charming and witty.

Happy to be footloose and free,
Always singing her sweet little ditty!

KING KONG SONGby Suzy Levinson

King Kong (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933)

BANANA BITTY DITTY!
Me gorilla and me pretty!
When me show up in the city,
all the peoples stop to stare!

BANANA ROOTY TOOTY!
Peoples screaming at my beauty!
So me bid them HOWDY DOODY
as me swingy through the air!

I could've written something dark, mysterious and gritty. I could've penned a couple lines about a little kitty. I could've shared a country song I wrote for Conway Twitty, or even just one stanza all about the Windy City. I could have spent some time composing such a charming ditty... alas, I never had the chance. It's really such a pity.

Pity shmitty! You have until Monday, February 29th to send your "ditty"-inspired ditty to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right.

Participants in this month's challenge will be automatically entered to win a copy of NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T: Poems About Creatures That Hide, by David L. Harrison and illustrated by Giles Laroche (Charlesbridge, 2016). One entry per participant, not per poem.

Alternatively, you may enter the giveaway by commenting below.

Earn an additional entry for the giveaway by contributing a poem inspired by the word "leaves" to David's Word of the Month challenge, HERE.

If you contribute a poem on Today's Little Ditty, on David's blog, and comment below you will earn three entries in total. You have until Monday, February 29th, to submit a poem here or on David's blog; comments must be received no later than Tuesday, March 1st.

The winner will be determined by Random.org and announced next Friday, March 4th, when we reveal our new Spotlight ON interview and ditty
challenge.

Looking for your muse? S/he's likely hanging out at the Poetry Friday roundup, hosted this week by Liz Steinglass.

About Me

I write children's poetry, picture books, and greeting card copy. My creative challenge is to bring out the natural musicality and rhythm of words and let them bounce around (and otherwise run amok) within the sphere of my imagination. Please visit my website at MichelleHBarnes.com

TLD Contributors

The following poet/authors contribute educational posts to Today's Little Ditty. Please click on their names to explore their series.

Ditty of the Month Club (DMC)

Submit your poem for the current month's challenge by clicking on the link at the top of the page. Click on the DMC star (above) for links to past challenges. Click "Spotlight ON Interviews" (below) for a complete list of interviews to date.

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In accordance with the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA), Today's Little Ditty does not seek personal information of children under age 13. If a child under age 13 chooses to comment on a post or otherwise participate on this blog (by submitting a poem, for example), he or she must do so via a parent or with written parental consent. Comments or poems submitted by children under 13 without parental consent will be deleted.